Hirayama disease with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: A case report

Abstract

Hirayama disease (HD) is rare, but benign anterior horn cell disease, predominantly affecting young men. One of the symptoms, besides weakness, is abnormal movement in the hand. Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is one of the most common types of generalized epilepsies and can be recognized by a myoclonic jerk and electroencephalography (EEG) features. We report the case of a 19-year-old male who had HD, with unilateral abnormal movement in the hand, which was diagnosed as JME. We should consider performing an EEG in patients with HD, who present with atypical hand movements, in order to differentiate it from seizure.

Keywords

• Electroencephalography
• Hirayama disease
• juvenile myoclonic epilepsy
• myoclonus